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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mark — a grade
  3. lean — thin
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. court — for sport
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mark — a trace
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — to wash
  12. court — of a king
  13. content — the amount
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. hand — help
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. lean — to bend
  19. content — happy
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. court — of law

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com